DCxDP Dead Tired AU: Thesis and Coffee Orders
So this is in honor of my current undergraduate thesis situation irl but it gave me a eureka moment
Danny is in college, in his final semester of his degree program. He was one of the youngest was because he was insanely smart, he had special permission to overload on units and take courses with prerequisites early on. One of the requirements before you graduate is your undergraduate thesis.
Danny was never a lucky person. Lady luck was hardly on his side, so it really didn't surprise him when he was grouped with the worst members possible. You know, the ones that leave you on read when you need them, and have loads of excuses when you need something done by them?
At first, his group members showed up because why not. It was going smoothly, until one by one, all of them stopped responding.
They knew Danny was the smart one and made him the leader, like every smart and responsible person would face. And as every group leader knows, they end up handling at least 50% of the overall work and split the remaining 50% evenly.
But his group members hardly ever contribute anything significant at all. If Danny ever received contributions, it's worse than half-assed so he would do it all again himself.
So there he was, practically having given up on his group mates and pursued his thesis alone. It was tiring, but he'll manage, he guesses. He'll just get his revenge at the end of the semester, after the defense. Maybe make them pay twice, no, thrice, actually that isn't enough, maybe four times of what he spent monetarily, in labor, and in time. Or file an incident report to the Dean for justice. He'll cross the bridge when he gets there. There are still months remaining and if he starts early on, he can make it in time. He already saved the world before while doing most of the work. There can't be anything that's harder than that, right?
Luckily, in Gotham University, there's a study area where students can work on homework, projects, and other school related things. It was open 24/7 and had resting areas as well so you can nap or just camp there when you need an overnight session. This was his favorite spot because there was a coffee shop nearby, and the only time Lady Luck had ever blessed him was when they first served him his custom order that no mortal would ever drink: A Venti Iced white chocolate mocha with 7 shots of espresso, and some room on top, then laced with some energized ectoplasm (he does it himself after he gets the drink) so he stays focused. It was a wild moment for the barista when Danny first told him to leave some room up top. Imagine the barista's surprise when he sees Danny pouring in toxic-and-radioactive-looking green stuff on top.
Apparently, he has been drinking caffeine so much that it doesn't affect him as much as the normal person. The energized ectoplasm is for his ghost half, but it's energized part is basically caffeine for ghosts.
He only went there in the evenings and stayed awake the whole midnight, because it's the only time where people start to leave the room and he thrives when he's the only one remaining.
As usual as his routine was, there was a new outlier variable. Another guy whose eye bags are darker than vantablack, with two laptops and stacks of books and papers around him. Basically another Danny.
He caught himself staring at Tim Drake, the other smart kid who was in the same predicament as Danny: super smart that allowed him to get special permission to overload on units and take them all simultaneously.
It really didn't matter to him, as they were practically in different worlds. I mean Tim is famous for being a Wayne kid and Danny is just some guy who was overloading in units. He really didn't see tim as a rival either.
So he kept to himself and thought if Tim is practically invisible, Danny wouldn't have a problem with it, though he thought it would be a one time thing, or at most a month.
They kept seeing each other in the study area, which was fine, because they're too busy.
Until they were both at the coffee shop nearby.
They both ordered something and waited.
"Order for Danny. Order for Tim"
The barista then called them, and mentioned their orders. Apparently they were regulars.
"Here you go Tim. A venti "iced" coffee with no ice like a psychopath, with 10 shots of espresso so help me God, oat milk, no syrup, and no toppings. Quickly Chilled using liquid nitrogen for some coldness because you said and I quote "You need to maximize the volume of coffee in a venti cup" the barista dictates Tim's order
Danny turns to Tim with a slight surprised look after hearing the order. I mean who in their right mind, except Danny, would order a drink with 10 shots of espresso in total? Might as well be a death wish if you ask me. However, to Tim, he received it as a judgmental look, and gave a subtle one back that screams "Mind your own business"
Danny looks away and receives his order.
"And for you Danny, A trenta *sigh* iced white chocolate mocha with 7 shots of espresso what in the world, whole milk, extra 6 pumps of white mocha sauce, extra whipped cream, and extra chocolate drizzle, with a note that says "leave about an 2 inches of the cup empty" because you put that radioactive looking green stuff in there. Here you go." The barista dictates then gives Danny his "coffee"
Now it was Tim's turn to do a head turn. What does the barista mean radioactive looking stuff? The best he can think of when he hears "radioactive looking green stuff" is joker's gas aerosolized.
Tim watches Danny as he puts his "coffee" down on a table, opens the lid, gets a metal tumbler from his bag, opens and pours energized ectoplasm to his "coffee" filling the remaining space to the brim, and closes the plastic lid. He proceeds to get a straw and puts it in.
Tim gave Danny a subtle concerned look. From Tim's perspective, it looks like the other guy is gonna drink either the joker's venom or Lazarus pit water. He made a mental note to investigate it later on. In retaliation, Danny gave a subtle smirk back and his face basically says "Yeah I drink this. What about it?"
"Is that even coffee at this point? It looks like a large cup of caffeinated sugar mixed with radioactive toxic waste. How are you not getting diabetes, let alone mutate into something else?" The barista remarked.
"With pure spite due to my thesis mates not helping me. As long as I have this drink, and stay awake and spiteful, I'll manage."
Tim let out a snicker "Heh. That makes two of us. Same predicament and all."
"Is that also why you have dark circles under your eyes? You look like a panda with those dark bags." snarked Danny.
"As if you're any better, you radioactive coffee drinking raccoon." Tim retorted.
After a short pause, both of them chuckled and introduced themselves.
"The name's Daniel Fenton. Call me Danny." Danny threw in a handshake
"Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne, though you probably already knew that. Call me Tim." Tim shook his hand.
"So, pretty tired boy, what's your thesis about?" Danny asked while they were both returning to the study area, drinking their unholy caffeinated drinks.
And the rest was history. Well not really. They got along well and they'd always hang out in the study area when they can. Friendship develops and all of that, with hints of romantic interest from both sides. I mean, who wouldn't fall in love from frequent unholy coffee date nights, am I right? They would talk about stuff, space, heroes, and all the like. They would also talk about their thesis, their progress, setbacks, and talk shit about their horrible group mates (I'll leave it up to you to imagine what their theses are).
Then an idea crosses Danny's gremlin mind.
"What if we help each other with our theses? then when we have our thesis defense, we would both present both topics?" Danny asks.
"Sounds chaotic, I'm in. That would put the "Not everyone has to present" guideline to good use. We'll just leave their names off, and replace both theses' group members with both our names." Tim replies.
"Now that sounds like a good date idea ;). How about we wear matching PJs and flip flops instead of formal wear as a protest of what we "endured?"" Danny asked again with a grin on his face
"Add a blazer to that match to show we "tried" to wear formal attire and I'm in. Also let's not hide our eye bags to show we're really tired lmao." Tim suggests with a smile on his face
"Well we would need to get lucky on the order of presentations, making sure"
"Leave that part to me :)" Tim replies.
And their chaotic presentation date is set.
For the next few months, they would help each other's research. And because both of them are competent, they progress even faster with both of their thesis than when they were alone. Laboratory and or mechanical works come off easily considering both their backgrounds in dealing with machines and chemicals, and with both of them barely getting any sleep, they actually finished both of their own thesis studies with a month to spare. They would then use that time for their own romantic dates and date nights at the lounge of the study area, developing their relationship :D. The only thing lacking is a proper label.
Thesis defense day arrives.
Both Danny's and Tim's group mates just say they won't present since they don't have an idea of what to say. I mean it's not like they actually did work, did they? But it works for Both of them. They are present in the venue. They just won't be presenting, as "agreed" by all of them (including Danny and Tim for their stunt of course.)
"And now, Calling in Daniel Fenton to present his thesis titled [insert thesis title here]". Danny walks and the crowd is in wonder and chuckles on what Danny is wearing.
Space themed Pajamas, green flops, and a black blazer with visible dark bags under his eyes.
Danny walked alone on stage so everyone assumed he was the only one presenting
"Good day everyone. Today, we will be presenting our thesis."
The crowd wondered why Danny said "we". Then Tim walked in in red crocs plain black pajamas, and a red blazer. Still with huge dark eye bags and both of them had crazy bed hair.
Funnily enough, the names on Danny's presentation are just his and Tim's name. This led to Danny's group mates in unease. Completely blindsided. Technically and officially they're still part of the group, so imagine the professors' confusion when the group members in the PowerPoint presentation only listed two people. Turns out not checking the students’ PowerPoint presentations beforehand was a mistake.
Now the crowd was even more surprised because who would expect to see Danny and Tim presenting Danny's thesis.
In the QnA session, Danny explained that Tim was a major help in his study and it felt right that Tim would explain and have his name up there. As for the names of the other group members, he just said "I don't know who you are referring to". That shut the judges up.
After the QnA, they were still murmurs of why Tim was with Danny in his presentation. Danny left the stage in triumph.
"Next we have Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne presenting"
"Hello everyone, we are here to present [topic]"
And again with the murmurs of who is "we". Then Danny walked on the stage again, both presenting. Only both their names are in. Needless to say, the same thing happened.
Both Tim and Danny, their "respective" group mates, the judges, the faculty-in-charge of the thesis studies, and the college dean were called to explain the stunt they made.
Each student was interviewed, but only Tim's and Danny's version of stories match. They then explained to everyone present the timeline of events on the happening. From the start of the thesis shenanigans, to the ghosting of group members, to helping each other, and their form of protest to the unjust events on their thesis journey.
Needless to say, there was a huge disciplinary action done to the dead weights. They tried accusing both of them as liars but it's not like it's believeable. Besides, who would want to get on Bruce Wayne's bad side?
All's well ends well and everything turns out for the better. Well I'll leave it to your imagination on how they got together officially but I would say it was a cheesy moment.
And now they're back in the coffee shop. Well dressed this time. The barista sees them and goes:
"Hello welcome to- oh for goodness's sake. Do you want another round of your unholy usuals?" While pinching his nose.
"Actually, not this time. I'd actually want to sleep later". Tim said.
"Me too. The presentation date day was exhausting but memorable." Danny added.
"I'd like a Grande Honey Citrus Mint Tea" Tim orderd.
"And I'd like a Venti Hot chocolate with whipped cream" Danny also ordered
"Goodness Gracious. Normal orders for once, and for both of you? Did the universe finally fall into balance?" The barista commented.
EDIT A FEW HOURS LATER: CONTINUITY ERRORS AND GRAMMAR
